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Timeline: North Korea's past

A look at key dates in this nation's past, starting with its division from South Korea.

1948

1954

1960

1966

1972

1978

1984

1990

1996

2002

2008

2014

1948

Division

Korea officially divides into two nations. Kim Il Sung installed as leader of
North Korea.

Photo: Kim Il Sung attends the military parade celebrating the creation of the North Korean People's Army in February 1948. (Korean Central News Agency)

June 25, 1950

Korean War

North Korea launches a surprise attack on the South along the 38th Parallel,
established as a border after the end of World War II, setting off the Korean
War. Chinese troops enter the water in October, attacking U.S.-led forces that are invading North Korea.

Photo: Two U.S. 2nd Infantry Division soldiers use a screwdriver and bayonet tip as they probe for mines on the road from Changnyong to the Naktong River in South Korea on Sept. 10, 1950. (AP file photo)

July 27, 1953

War ends

After a seesaw conflict that leaves 178,000 dead, an armistice agreement is
signed, and fighting stops.

Photo: South Korea army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence on March 6, 2013, near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War. (Lee Jin-man, AP)

Jan. 23, 1968

Ship captured

North Korea captures the USS Pueblo, a naval intelligence ship. The crew, minus
those killed, is released 11 months later.

The first of three combat campaigns between North and South Korea over disputed
western islands -- the others occur in 2002 and 2009 -- will leave several patrol
ships sunk and sailors killed on both sides.

Photo: A South Korean walks along an oyster field with a sea base for naval ships seen off Yeonpyeong Island in 2009 in disputed waters in the Yellow Sea, the scene of inter-Korean clashes. (AFP/Getty Images)

June 2000

Historic meeting

North Korea's Kim Jong Il meets with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung at a
summit in Pyongyang, paving the way for the reopening of border liaison offices.
The South also grants amnesty to thousands of North Korean prisoners.

Photo:?Kim Jong Il, right, and Kim Dae Jung raise their arms together before signing a joint declaration at the end of the second day of a three-day summit in Pyongyang on June 14, 2000. (AP file photo)

January 2002

Axis of evil

President George W. Bush labels North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" and an "outpost of tyranny."

Photo: Bush, flanked by Vice President Dick Cheney, left, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, acknowledges applause in the House Chamber of the Capitol during his State of the Union Address on Jan. 29, 2002. (Luke Frazza, AP)

January 2003

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

North Korea announces it is withdrawing from the 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty, under which the country was barred from making nuclear weapons.

Photo: Kim Jong Il is seen during a visit to Russia in 2002. (AP file photo)

Photo: North Korean soldiers observe the South Korean side through binoculars at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas on Nov. 1, 2006. (Lee Jin-man, AP)

November 2007

Prime ministers meet

The prime ministers of North and South Korea meet for the first time in 15
years.

Launch of Unha-3 rocket ends in an embarrassing failure, splintering into pieces
over the Yellow Sea soon after takeoff. Hours later, the country acknowledges that the satellite failed to enter orbit in an announcement on state TV.

Photo: A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of an Unha-3 rocket at Tangachai-ri space center on April 8, 2012. (Pedro Ugarte, AFP/Getty Images)

Dec. 12, 2012

Satellite launch

North Korea launches a long-range rocket and succeeds in its mission to place a satellite into orbit.

Photo: The launch of rocket Uhna-3, carrying the satellite Kwangmyongson-3, is monitored on a large screen at a control center on Dec. 12, 2012. (Korean Central News Agency via AFP/Getty Images)

Feb. 12, 2013

Miniature nuclear device detonated

North Korea says it has detonated a miniaturized nuclear device. If true, this
would be an advance, as North Korea needs to master the technology to make a
nuclear device small enough to mount on a missile.

North Korea announces it will scrap the armistice agreement that ended the
Korean War 60 years ago.

Photo: South Korean Army soldiers stand guard at the Unification Bridge near the border village of Panmunjom on March 21, 2013. (Ahn Young-joon, AP)

March 15, 2013

USA beefs up defense

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the Pentagon will bolster missile defense in
the U.S. with the addition of 14 interception missiles in the face of a growing
threat from North Korea. The decision expands the system's ability to shoot down
long-range missiles in flight before they could reach U.S. territory.

Photo: Hagel speaks about the U.S. missile defense system during a press briefing at the Pentagon on March 15, 2013. (Win McNamee, Getty Images)

March 30, 2013

'State of war'

North Korea declares it has entered a "state of war" with South Korea in the latest string of threats that have raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Photo: North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 29, 2013. (Jon Chol Jin, AP)